I drove by yesterday and its not open yet! I live in Piscataway so its about 15 mins to either location for me! Not really in any hurry to try the new location as The Edison location suits me just fine!!!! cant get much better!

I drove by yesterday and its not open yet! I live in Piscataway so its about 15 mins to either location for me! Not really in any hurry to try the new location as The Edison location suits me just fine!!!! cant get much better!

No, it's not open yet, cause it's not SUMMER yet. It's not opening till this summer. (the weather barely feels like spring, much less summer)

If Harold Jaffe is really going to operate two locations simulaneously, that would be a first, to the best of my knowledge. His business model has always been to open a restaurant in an under-utilized hotel/motel location, and to operate it for several years until it is extremely popular. Then, he sells it--name and all.

The new owners initially have a booming business, on the basis of Harold's reputation. However, within a year or so, the business at these "sold" restaurants begins to drop off, because the new owners invariably do not put the same level of quality into the food that Harold does. The portions may remain large, but the quality is just not the same without Harold himself being involved. And, by that time, the reputation of the newest Harold's has begun to spread far and wide and the masses are flocking to the newest Harold's location.

So--unless you know for sure that the Edison location will remain under Harold's ownership after the opening of the East Brunswick location, it is probably safer to assume that Edison will be owned by someone else once the new location opens. At least that would follow the pattern established by Harold in all of his previous ventures.

Well, Ted Bear, the article says he plans to run both of them; we'll see how it goes...

I'm with you, as I don't particularly believe in that concept of owning and "flipping" restaurants.Like you say, something always seems to get lost in the translation. I for one would not want to sell my "Ellen" name, cause who knows what might become of it. Too much pride.

There is/was a guy named Russ Cowan that does this "flipping". He opened the Kibbutz Room deli in Cherry Hill, and in Philly. Then he opened one in Ocean City , NJ, seasonally, from March till about Oct. He tries to train people, then have them take over..It lasted barely a few years, if I remember correctly. (including him selling it off, and of course, the new owners did'nt quite cut it... they tried , though) Their matzoh ball soup was the worst I ever had in my life (like a bowl of water), even with Russ at the helm..

Tedbear and Ellen..That's been Harold's "MO" in the past. Tedbear is exactly right. This guy is Mr. Deli..Especially in the Metro area. People want to see him when they walk into Harold's. I think they feel it guarantees them a great sandwich and they're probably right. He's the Joe Baum (Claremont Diner) of his day IMHO.

Anyway, this is a very interesting move on his part because they are within 10-15 minutes driving distance of one another. Why this makes sense is beyond me, but how can anyone question Harold?

I am as excited as "WanderingJew" because this almost guarantees we will be reading about Harold's every single day on roadfood.com. In fact, I can see the day when the site will be called Harold's roadfood.com.

Both the Claremont Diner on Bloomfield Avenue in Verona, New Jersey, and the equally legendary Weequahic Diner on Elizabeth Avenue in Newark, New Jersey, were run by the Brothers Bauman...Leo and Morris.

In their memory, this needed to be corrected. Following is a link to a story about their restaurant greatness.

At 2am. During "rush hour" (which lasts, conservatively, from 2 pm - 8 pm in that part of NJ), it could be from 30-45 (or more). One could spend 10 minutes doing a U-turn at a jug handle on 18 at dinner time.

[Lived in South River, worked in Edison for over a decade. When my start time changed from 5 am to 7 am, my commute went from approx. 12 minutes to 30. " /> ]

Screenbear..thanks for the correction...If it were only as easy as adding "an" All these years, I thought it was owned by Joe Baum. Leo and Morris Baum(an)....Ok..Got it. And, sorry to the family because they surely have my respect and anyone else who had the good fortune to eat at the Clarement Diner. thanks for the article, too.

Well IMHO, Harold has followed in "their" footsteps. It's hard for a palce like that to be a success without hands on ownership and a true love of the business. Harold has always had that,too. I have no doubt when he says he spends all those hours at his business that he does!

Screenbear - Did you get to eat at the Claremont Diner? If so, do you happen to remember the when they'd go around with this stainless steel box with a flip top..Sort of like they use at the ballparks for hot dogs. But inside the box they served replenishments of garlic bread on the patrons' plates.

But the guys and I went there plenty after we got our drivers licenses. It was our equivalent of the diner in "Diner," though a tad more upscale.

It was just so good. My biggest dilemma was whether to have a pastrami sandwich or a chopped liver sandwich. How many teenagers anguish over those choices now?

Of course I'm looking through rose colored glasses. However, I don't remember ever being dissatisfied with a meal. And for dessert, an almond horn.

To paraphrase what you've in essence noted, at both the Weequahic and the Claremont, Leo and Morris set the bar for all the restaurants of their style that would follow...like Harold's

While one probably can just do it for the money, the greats usually don't. They do it it for the love of the game. Does anyone think for a second that Mickey Mantle or Ted Williams played baseball just for the money? Not hardly.

I didn't do much deli eating in NYC in those days. It was Nathan's at 42nd Street or Chinatown back then when we did a NYC run. So I don't know how the Claremont would have stacked up against the great ones across the Hudson, let alone in Brooklyn. But I've an inkling that both the Claremont and the Weequahic would have given them all a run for their matzoh ball soup.